Russia’s largest telecom operators are getting ready for the Sept. 1 digital ruble deadline. MTS, Rostelecom, and MegaFon are preparing payment systems for the first mandatory stage of the CBDC rollout, according to Vedomosti. MTS plans to offer digital ruble payments through the My MTS app and its online store. Services connected to MTS Pay should also support the option.
For customers, the process will look similar to Russia’s Faster Payments System. A user selects digital ruble at checkout, picks a participating bank, and confirms the payment through the bank’s interface. The digital ruble account sits on the Bank of Russia’s platform, while banks provide access through their apps.
Telecom operators take different paths
Rostelecom is doing technical work with one of Russia’s largest banks, though the lender was not named. At launch, customers will only make one-time payments on Rostelecom’s website. Account-based payments and automatic top-ups will wait until the central bank’s platform can handle them. MegaFon is also adding the digital ruble. VimpelCom, which runs Beeline, declined to comment.
MTS is avoiding the extra work of routing each product separately. It will use its existing MTS Pay module, so the digital ruble appears wherever that module is already installed.
Big merchants face the same deadline
The preparations align with a legal requirement starting Sept. 1. Merchants with annual revenue above 120 million rubles in the previous calendar year must accept digital rubles if they met the banking conditions at the start of 2026. The rule expands to businesses with revenue above 30 million rubles in September 2027, and to merchants with at least 20 million rubles in 2028. Ozon and Wildberries also say they will support digital rubles from Sept. 1.
Fees and limits
Individuals won’t pay platform fees for digital ruble transfers or payments. Businesses get a temporary fee break too. The Bank of Russia has set a zero tariff for most commercial transactions through the end of 2026. Starting in 2027, a 0.3% charge of up to 1,500 rubles per customer-to-business transfer is planned.
There is also a funding limit. An individual can move up to 300,000 rubles per month from a regular bank account into a digital ruble account. That limit applies to the funding move, not the total balance. Money can be transferred back to a conventional account and withdrawn as cash.
Russia has been testing the digital ruble since August 2023. Some smaller banks worried about connection costs, with estimates ranging from 120 million to more than 200 million rubles. The phased timetable gives them extra time. Universal-license banks join in 2027, basic-license banks in 2028.
The CBDC expansion arrives as Russia also introduces new rules for private crypto, but the two remain separate. The digital ruble is issued by the Bank of Russia and counts as official national currency. Private crypto is still barred for regular domestic payments.
